January 2: Vegetarian Chili

Yay! I made it to day 2 in my Crock-Pot cookbook! I really shouldn't be so excited because I have 363 days to go. Today I made Vegetarian Chili from the Hearty Stews and Chilies section of the cookbook - page 44. I started at about 10:30 this morning, gathering the ingredients:

After chopping the pepper, onion, and garlic in the food processor (very finely for my husband's sake), I sauteed them in vegetable oil for 5 minutes in a large skillet. I left out the jalapenos, since I'm trying to feed little ones:

Then I transferred this mixture and all other ingredients (minus cheese and sour cream) to the Crock-Pot and cooked on low for 5 - 6 hours.

This is the best kind of recipe, especially for a busy day like Wednesdays when I have to take my daughter to ballet, because all you have to do is set the table and scoop it out! Here is what it looked like when it was all done:

I wasn't sure if I should have stirred it during the cooking process; this cookbook cautions against taking the lid off unless specified in the instructions. Now that I think about it, it probably would have been fine, since there is no meat in this chili. The burnt part didn't affect the taste of the chili at all though.

And here is mine with sour cream and shredded Cheddar on top:

I really didn't know if I would like this chili, since obviously it has no meat in it. I was smelling a very acidic tomato smell all day, so I thought it might taste like tinned tomatoes with watery beans mixed in. I was surprised to find that it really was pretty good. The soup isn't too tomatoey. The garbanzo beans give it a heftiness akin to that of meat. The sour cream gives it a nice bit of necessary fat, and the cheese gives it extra flavor and protein. So all in all, this recipe was not bad. My family gobbled it up, especially the boys!